July Tips: VEGETABLES

July Tips: VEGETABLES

Show off your gardening abilities by exhibiting fresh vegetables,
flowers, and fruits at local fairs. You might even win a blue ribbon!

Continue to use Bacillus thuringiensis for caterpillar pests, such as

imported cabbageworm. Follow directions for application on the label.

Make successive plantings of beets, beans, and carrots to be able to
harvest into fall. Direct seed cool-season crops, such as broccoli,
cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, into the garden.

Continue to monitor your squash vines for squash vine borers. The
moths lay their eggs on the stems, then the emerging larvae bore
into the vines, causing the squash vine to wilt and die. Contact your
local Extension agent for control recommendations.

To obtain maximum pleasure and value from your vegetable garden,
continue planting during the growing season. This provides a harvest
until cold weather kills the plants.

Uncaged tomatoes can be damaged by sunscald. To prevent this, lean an
old window screen over the plants to protect them from the sun.

Before you spray an insecticide on your vegetables, check the label.
Each insecticide has a time you must wait before you can harvest.

To prevent okra from becoming slimy while cooking, leave the stem on
the pod.
The stem is edible, or you can remove it before serving.

Dry weather causes Swiss chard to bolt or go to seed.
Water your plants to extend the season.

Cucumbers develops a bitter taste if the soil is not kept
consistently moist.
Harvest for pickling whole when 2 to 4 inches; for table use, when
longer than 5 inches. Remove any overripe cucumbers to encourage
continuous production.

For bigger and better Brussels sprouts, pinch out the top of the
plant when sprouts at the bottom are fully grown. The smaller, upper
sprouts will grow larger than they would otherwise.

Okra, one of the most showy blooms in the vegetable garden, bears
flowers that last only one day. If the flower has been pollinated, a
miniature okra pod can be seen beneath the wilted flower.

Leave the casaba melon on the vine until the blossom end softens and
rind turns yellow. Crenshaw melon is ripe when the dark-green skin
develops yellow streaks. Pick honeydew when the blossom end softens
and white skin turns cream color.

Most of your spring crops are out of the garden, and weeds are
beginning to encroach on what once was a productive space. Plant
another crop in those empty spaces to be harvested at the end of the
growing season. Try beans, kale, turnips, mustard, broccoli, cabbage,
spinach, or even corn varieties that mature in a short season.
Remember to restore fertility to the soil before planting your fall
crops by working in a light layer of compost or aged manure or a
small application of a complete chemical fertilizer.

Shredded Chinese cabbage is a good, hot-weather substitute for
lettuce in salads and sandwiches. A second crop may be started now
for fall harvesting.

Although tomatoes are self-pollinating, they need movement to
transfer
pollen. If it is hot and calm for several days, gently shake plants
for assured pollen transfer and fruit set. Hot temperatures can also
interfere with blossom set.

Overwatered okra will produce more leaves than pods.

Water stress in sweet potatoes can result in cracked roots. A
potassium deficiency causes long, slender roots. Too much nitrogen
reduces yield and quality.

Drought and hot, dry winds can cause pepper and tomato blossoms to
drop off.
Try misting plants twice a day to cool them and help the blossoms set
fruit.

Too many cucumbers, zucchini, or tomatoes? Think pickles, relishes,
and tomato sauces.

Cucumbers have a very short "vine-storage time." Under warm, humid
conditions, the fruits on the vine may remain in prime condition less
than one day. So pick early and often.

For the best flavor, pick ripe tomatoes as needed; flavor peaks
within three minutes of picking. If you must wait to use garden-fresh
tomatoes, don't refrigerate them. Fruit texture and some aroma
compounds deteriorate quickly in the cold.

You can prolong the storage life of fresh okra by dipping it in 500
ppm of ascorbic acid for five minutes. This concentration is
approximately the same as dissolving 500 mg of vitamin C in a quart
of water.
Then air dry and pack in plastic bags for storage of up to one month
in your refrigerator.

To get more vitamins out of your vegetables, keep the outer leaves on
your cabbage heads. They are high in vitamin C. Grow yellow corn
varieties; they are higher in vitamin A than those with white
kernels.
Wash, but don't peel, cucumbers -- most of the vitamin A is in the
skin.
Harvest some green leaves with broccoli heads and stalks; the leaves
have more vitamin A than the head and are richer in vitamin C, too.

Most fertilizer recommendations are for 100 square feet, so keep your

garden's square footage a simple fraction of that. For example, a 4 x
12 1/2 foot garden is exactly 50 square feet and would require
exactly one half the fertilizer required by a garden of 100 square
feet.

Intensive gardeners know that closely spaced plants may yield less
per plant, but the yield per square foot is increased because so many
more plants are grown. The same idea can be used in container
gardening. USDA research has shown that tomatoes grown in 3 1/2-inch
pots yielded
smaller and fewer fruits than those grown in 11-inch pots, but the
total yield per square foot was almost twice as high because three
small pots could be grown in the space of one large pot.

Try a slippery plastic fence for keeping raccoons out of vegetables,
especially sweet corn. Construct one by stapling plastic sheeting (6
mil thickness) to stakes spaced every 10 feet so that the stakes are
on the inside of the plastic, toward the corn. The plastic should be
30 to 36 inches wide, and the lowermost 3 to 6 inches should rest on
the ground. If you already have a fence around your garden, try using
spring-type clothespins to clip the plastic to it. Put the fence up
shortly before the corn is ripe to give the animals less time to
figure it out. Raccoons trying to climb the slippery plastic soon
give up.

A garden needs 1 inch of rain or water each week.
Early morning is the best time to water. Evening watering is less
desirable because leaves that remain wet through the night are more
susceptible to fungal diseases. Mulch plants to reduce water loss and
improve yields.

Keep peas, beans, and berries cool while you pick them by spreading a
damp cloth over your harvest basket.

For a fall harvest of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels
sprouts, set transplants in late July. For a fall harvest of lettuce,
radish, carrots, beets, turnips, kale, and spinach, sow seeds in late
July to early August.

Fall is the best time to grow Brussels sprouts since their flavor is
enhanced by a mild frost. Sow seeds directly in the garden early in
the month, or set out transplants. Brussels sprouts are heavy feeders
so make monthly applications of 5-10-10 fertilizer from the time the
plants are 4 inches tall. Apply at a rate of 1/2 cup per square yard.

In summer, dry soil may make working the soil difficult and inhibit
seed germination. Plant your fall vegetables when the soil is moist
after a rain, or water the area thoroughly the day before you plant.
Seeds may be planted in a shallow trench to conserve moisture. Cover
the seeds about twice as deeply as you do in the spring. Early
maturing varieties are best for late plantings.

Gardeners in the mountainous regions of Virginia should start
planting fall vegetables this month. Request publication #426-334,
Fall Vegetable Gardening, from your Extension agent for guidelines on
planning and planting fall crops.

One of the most important advantages of the home garden is the
opportunity to have high-quality vegetables. Harvest your vegetables
at the peak of maturity. Don't allow them to become too old before
you pick them. Harvest summer squash when it's about 6 inches long.
Use sweet corn as soon as it is picked. If it is held under warm
conditions, the sugar changes to starch, and the corn is much poorer
in quality.

Stop vine crops from taking over your garden or lawn by pinching off
the fuzzy growing tips. This also directs the plant's energy into
ripening fruit rather than producing more vine.

Implement all the best cultural practices to reduce pest problems,
but be prepared to spray as needed to control insects and diseases.
Some pest control usually is necessary to insure the production of
healthful, high-quality vegetables.

Swiss chard can outproduce the gardener. If it becomes overmature,
cut it back to about 4 inches. After cutting, it will send out
tender, new leaves.

Plant Chinese cabbage in July about 90 days before the average date
of the first fall frost in your locality. This will allow crisp, firm
heads to form in the cool days of early autumn.

Side dress crops like corn and cabbage with 2 pounds of 5-10-5
fertilizer per 50 feet of row about a month after growth starts.
Scatter the fertilizer between the rows and scratch it into the soil
with a rake. If your garden is on an infertile sandy soil, side dress
all of your vegetables to promote vigorous growth.

If your potatoes are visible along the soil surface, the portion
exposed to light will turn green. Green-skinned potatoes will taste
bitter and can cause sickness, so protect tubers from light by
covering them with soil or mulch.

Withhold water on storage potatoes when they begin to die down. Water
and fertilizer late in the season may disturb dormancy necessary for
good storage. They can cause regrowth or cause potatoes to crack
prior to harvest.

When muskmelons are 1/3 to 1/2 their mature size, decrease watering.
Overwatering reduces sweetness and may cause the fruits to crack
open. From half-size to maturity, 1 inch of water per week from
rainfall or overhead irrigation is plenty. Likewise, trickle
irrigation should be reduced.

Dried onion flower heads make marvelous additions to winter flower
arrangements. For this reason, you may want to allow some buds that
appear in your onion patch to develop instead of pinching them out as
is useful to ensure large bulbs.

Continue to make successive plantings of crops like beans, beets,
cabbage, and sweet corn to provide a continuous harvest until fall. A
small garden will produce a large quantity of vegetables if
replanting is done throughout the summer.

Pumpkin and squash blossoms are both beautiful and edible. To prepare
squash or pumpkin blossoms, pick them after they open. Remove insects
and dirt by washing and draining. Dip the blossoms in batter and fry
until golden.

Ornamental kales and cabbage are among the showiest of all winter
plants, and as the weather cools, the color intensifies.
Transplants of these beautiful winter ornamentals are available at
garden centers and nurseries now.

Summer squash with a bitter taste should not be eaten as it may
contain a natural toxin, curcurbitacin E, that can cause food
poisoning symptoms, such as stomach cramps. Often these fruits are a
result of self-seeded plants.
Avoid this problem by not saving self-seeded squash plants.

Turning cabbage a quarter to a half turn if they start to crack will
reduce the water uptake that causes splitting. Or use a shovel to cut
through the roots on one side of the plant. If that doesn't work,
better harvest them.

Daytime temperatures above 90 degrees F prevent snap bean flowers
from
developing.

Begin to sow cover crops between rows and in vacated beds now. Sow
clover, rye, and vetch. These will return humus and nitrates to the
soil when dug under later.